FINANCE · OPERATIONS · GOVERNANCE
J. Michael Herring
Chief Financial, Operating & Compliance Officer
Finance, trading, risk and technology leadership across investment businesses.
Trusted advisor to founders, CIOs and boards with 25+ years of experience launching, institutionalizing and leading alternative investment platforms, including Blackstone-seeded credit and Tiger-seeded equity funds. My perspective combines CFO/COO leadership with earlier responsibilities as Head Trader, Chief Risk Officer, public-company Enterprise Risk Manager, investment-bank client relationship manager and technology leader.
CPA · CISA · Harvard ALM · NYU MBA · Georgetown Law M.S.L. in Taxation Candidate, Expected 2028
BAY HARBOUR
$250m
Institutional readiness. I modernized the middle and back office ahead of J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s $250m allocation, implementing Advent Geneva and consolidated reporting.
PINE GROVE
$1bn / 40
An allocator’s perspective. As COO of a credit fund of funds, I gained firsthand exposure to the operating practices of 40 external managers—an unusually broad view of how investment businesses are run.
COVARA CAPITAL
$275m
Platform build. I built operating infrastructure for a Blackstone-seeded credit manager across finance, treasury, compliance and investment operations.
01 / FUNCTIONAL EXPERIENCE
Explore the work
by function.
Specific examinations, financial processes, systems implementations and business transitions across my career.
Compliance & examinations
Direct responsibility for examination responses, regulatory investigations, reporting and the controls that put compliance requirements into practice.
- SEC examinations at Covara and Bay Harbour
- NYSE/SEC investigation and settlement at LaBranche
- Regulatory audits, filings and trade surveillance
Market Risk & Governance
Direct market-risk responsibility for a $6 billion derivatives trading business, followed by public-company enterprise risk and investment-manager governance.
- LaBranche CRO and public-company Enterprise Risk Manager
- Pine Grove committee leadership and 40-manager oversight
- Nikko Global Risk Committee
Finance & treasury
Accounting, reporting, budgets and liquidity, with hands-on responsibility for the financial processes behind investment operations.
- Management-company budgets, profitability and cash forecasts
- NAV, valuation, audit and tax coordination
- Real-time cash and margin analysis during the Lehman crisis
Launches & business transitions
Fund formation, new investment strategies, operating models and ownership transitions, including work with Blackstone- and Tiger Management-seeded businesses.
- Covara and Azora platform launches
- Caravel operating remediation and asset-retention mandate
- Three Pine Grove funds and a registered interval-fund conversion
Investment & business operations
Trading workflows, counterparty coordination, operating scale and business infrastructure across credit, equities and derivatives.
- Loans, swaps, collateral and multi-counterparty settlements
- Four vehicles, three prime brokers and three administrators
- Head Trader for the largest ADR specialist
Technology, data & AI
Ernst & Young Big Four training, a completed Harvard ALM and CISA certification underpin hands-on SQL reporting, investment systems, cybersecurity and current AI-enabled workflow initiatives.
- Alphadesk, Enfusion, EZE and Advent Geneva
- SQL Server reporting, CRM and research systems
- Trading technology and current AI workflow initiatives
Investors & service providers
Direct work with allocators, founders, auditors, administrators, counsel and banking counterparties through launches, growth and business transitions.
- $100 million anchor-investor ODD at Azora
- J.P. Morgan client relationship and risk management
- Bay Harbour readiness for a $250 million allocation
02 / EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE
Leadership across investment
strategies and business scale.
| Business / Portfolio Scale | Strategy | COO | CFO | CCO | CRO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $6.0bn | HFT & Structured Products | Performed | — | — | Performed |
| $4.0bn | Quant, Credit, Macro, Equity | Performed | Performed | — | — |
| $1.5bn | Distressed Credit | Performed | Performed | Performed | Performed |
| $1.0bn | Credit FOF | Performed | — | Performed | — |
| $900m | Equity L/S (Beyond Frontier) | Performed | Performed | Performed | — |
| $300m | Equity L/S (Sector) | — | Performed | Performed | — |
| $275m | Credit L/S (Blackstone seeded) | Performed | Performed | Performed | — |
| $125m | Equity L/S (Tiger seeded) | Performed | Performed | Performed | — |
Foundation
Ernst & Young (Big Four auditor) · CPA · CISA
Georgetown Law — Master of Studies in Law, Taxation Candidate · Expected 2028
Harvard University — Master of Liberal Arts (ALM), Information Management; Cybersecurity Emphasis · 2020
New York University — MBA · 2004
University of Scranton — BS in Accounting · 1992
03 / BACKGROUND
Finance, technology
and governance.
A perspective shaped by finance, trading, technology, public-company oversight and investment management.
Judgment grounded in executive experience.
My work has spanned lean fund launches and larger investment organizations. At Nikko Asset Management, I led finance, risk, technology, compliance and operations for the New York adviser, with more than $4 billion in assets and 45+ employees.
At Pine Grove, I chaired the Operating, Valuation and Risk Committees and played a central role in the firm’s organizational transition and sale to Man Group.
Earlier roles at LaBranche, J.P. Morgan and Ernst & Young bring trading, public-company risk oversight and technical experience to my work as an advisor and executive.
04 / CONNECT
Let’s connect.
Connect with me on LinkedIn for professional introductions and conversations.